The National Defense Medical Center

Unlike the other colleges located in Kungkuan, Taipei's student quarter, the National Defense Medical Center seems to maintain a certain aloofness from the bustle around it. In fact, the students there call themselves "hermits in the city."

"We're shut up in here hitting the books from Monday morning to Saturday noon. If we don't deserve the name of hermits, who does?" a third-year medical student asks with a smile. The campus is indeed rather austere--stark rectangular buildings, gray or white, a few trees, and a forlorn little garden just about sum it up.

But, as the ancients said, "A mountain is not famous for being high but for having an immortal; a river is not magical for being deep but for having a dragon." Although not much to look at from the outside perhaps, the university has produced thousands of "officers and gentlemen" for over 80 years and remains the most sought-after school to enroll in in the military.

The National Defense Medical Center offers a complete range of medical education, with five undergraduate schools (of medicine, dentistry, pharmacology, nursing, and public health) and seven graduate institutes (of medical science, biomorphics, biophysics, biochemistry, medical biomor phics, social medicine, and nursing). A junior college of medical service is also attached.

The school's history goes back to the Peiyang Army Medical College, established in Tientsin in 1902, ten years before the founding of the Republic, although the school did not receive its present name until 1947. Integration with Tri-Service General Hospital in 1979 has enabled students to combine practical, clinical experience with classroom study. All Medical Center graduates must perform a three-year internship at Tri-Service before going on to serve in military hospitals or the armed forces. Lieutenant General P'an Shu-jen, president of the center, says the arrangement has been like "adding wings to a tiger," giving students an active medical knowledge rather than just passive learning.

But acquiring this "active knowledge" is not simple. The National Defense Medical Center, unlike other medical schools, has a military mission. In addition to a fundamental medical curriculum, the center lays stress on the military aspects of medicine, on first aid, treating the wounded, rehabilitation, and the like.

Because the course load is heavy, campus discipline is not as strict as at other military schools. To freshmen arriving straight from three months of boot camp, it may, in fact, seem heavenly.

Rules there are, however. Students must live in on-campus dormitories, can leave the grounds only on weekends, must clean lavatories themselves, and must keep weekly logbooks. The rooms in the men's dorms have no doors, and bedding must be folded neatly.

But most students seem not to mind. As one senior points out, "Military schools take good care of you. We don't have to worry about housing and rent like other students, and the food here is prepared by nutritionists and really quite delicious." Another student agrees and says that the discipline builds patience and endurance, both characteristics of a good doctor.

And just as there is no such thing as a free lunch, so is there no pain without gain. The Director-General of the ROC Department of Health, Dr. Shih Ch'un-jen, says, "I graduated from National Taiwan University and have trained interns from many different medical schools but, comparatively speaking, the students from the National Defense Medical Center have a more simple lifestyle, a greater ability to stand hard work, and more group spirit than the others. Aren't these just the prerequisites of becoming a good doctor?"

Despite the discipline and heavy course work, the school is hardly isolated from the outside world. "Medicine is a rapidly changing science. We have to keep up," Director P'an says. He points out that the center's communication and cooperation with the outside far exceeds that of any other military school. For example, the center recently signed an agreement of cooperation with Stanford University and is working on research with the National Science Council, Academia Sinica, the Department of Health, and other organizations. The center also plans to select 50 graduate students every year for advanced study in the ROC and 60 to send abroad, a total of around 650 over the next six years.

While students at the center receive a medical education by no means inferior to civilian doctors, as graduates they earn a lot less. Earlier, graduates could practice privately after 10 years of military service, but the ceiling was raised in 1981 to retirement age (usually mid-fifties, depending on rank).

Is it worth it? "We knew what we were getting into before we enlisted," says one graduate. "We received seven years of free education and benefits. It's only fair we should do our duty in return. I've always believed the value of work shouldn't be measured in money but in its contribution to society and in personal satisfaction."

Pride in their work also characterizes the center's teachers, perhaps the school's greatest asset. Forty-seven have Ph.D., and 88 have Master's degrees. Most are alumni and still in their thirties, full of enthusiasm and energy. They hold a special affection for the school and its students and have high expectations.

"But for some of us that also has its drawbacks," one rather mischievous student maintains, since the teachers already know all the tricks. If, for example, a student claims "I had a headache" when asked why he did poorly on a test, the teacher is liable to come back with, "Why did you have a headache? Were you sick? Disappointed in love? Or maybe you didn't prepare your lesson, felt guilty, and got a headache that way. . .?"

The teachers' enthusiasm has built up some very strong departments. Neurosurgery is tops in the country and in the fore front of research. Recent Success in experiments with painkillers for terminal cancer patients has led to further research. And half of all neurosurgical operations in the country are performed at Tri-Service General, the center's sister hospital.

Another innovative department is the Institute of Social Medicine. True to its name, social medicine studies disease from the perspective of society rather than the individual. The institute has three sections: Public Health Nutrition; Public Health Administration, which is concerned with public health policy, public hygiene, and the like; and Epidemiology, which focuses on widespread communicable diseases, such as hepatitis. The institute is planning to set up a computerized data bank on health information to assist in future research.

Of all departments at the center, the school of nursing may be said to attract the most attention, mainly because it is all women. Because of the attention, the boys call the nursing students "God's favored children." Is that really so?

". . .walking past the men's dorms, eyes flashing at you out of each window, you feel like you're an ant under a microscope. God's favored children? God's nervous children is more like it!" a coed wrote to the school newspaper, making a play on the Chinese word chiao. How to keep a low profile and avoid becoming a topic of conversation is a prime concern.

As a result, the girls are rather-conservative socially, and the boys must modify their tactics accordingly. A plain, friendly approach is favored over romance, and a snack is better received than a rose. And because the male-female ratio is 12-to-one, "the object of your interest is often the focus of attention of thousands of others," a dental student complains. "While if you try to get something going on the outside, you've got to go through five and a half days of missing each other every week."

So most students just bury their heads in their studies, preferring not to fix their affections too early. At any rate, "in books are found houses of gold; in books are found faces like jade," as the old Chinese saying goes.

Because of the male-female ratio, clubs at the school are often rather "lopsided." Only the choir and the ancient Chinese zither club, out of 30 some societies, hold their own for the women.

Nevertheless, clubs are flourishing. Director P'an encourages students to participate in extracurricular activities. "They teach organization, leadership, and how to get along with others, which is helpful in our profession. Practicing medicine is strenuous. Many older doctors don't exercise or know how to relax. We can't be like machines that only know how to work and don't know how to live."

Developing in an environment that encourages them both to study hard and to be a whole person, students on graduation possess the spirit of a soldier along with the confidence of a doctor, without losing their feel for the common man. So when one of their patients has that expression "So military doctors aren't like I thought," graduates of the National Defense Medical Center just smile.

[Picture Caption]

Insignia of various departments inlaid in a red wall add some artistic flavor to the school.

The statue of the late President Chiang Kai-shek just inside the main gate forms a pair with a student vigorously striding by.

Medical Center students intern at Tri-Service General Hospital. This doctor-to-be is taking a blood sample.

Obstetrics students use an overhead projector to facilitate case analysis and discussion.

With its advanced equipment, Tri-Service General provides an excellent learning environment. Shown here is a blood analysis machine.

A dental student, learning by doing, concentrates on helping an instructor with a patient.

An overview of the campus and its one piece of green--Pakua Garden.

Students are under a lot of pressure. This lecture on "How to Reduce Examination Anxiety" should be well attended.

"That's right, we're new. We nay look a little gawky now, but give us a couple of years."

Rooms in the men's dorms have no doors. If someone plays the guitar, the others have to enjoy it--or put up with it.

You weren't expecting this, perhaps? Medical Center students get down and boogie.

The statue of the late President Chiang Kai-shek just inside the main gate forms a pair with a student vigorously striding by.

Medical Center students intern at Tri-Service General Hospital. This doctor-to-be is taking a blood sample.

A dental student, learning by doing, concentrates on helping an instructor with a patient.

Obstetrics students use an overhead projector to facilitate case analysis and discussion.

With its advanced equipment, Tri-Service General provides an excellent learning environment. Shown here is a blood analysis machine.

An overview of the campus and its one piece of green--Pakua Garden.

Students are under a lot of pressure. This lecture on "How to Reduce Examination Anxiety" should be well attended.

"That's right, we're new. We nay look a little gawky now, but give us a couple of years.".

Rooms in the men's dorms have no doors. If someone plays the guitar, the others have to enjoy it--or put up with it.